Sword Art Online: Reprogrammed
by Fate's Author
Summary: Kirito met Asuna right when she was most fragile. Together, they pick up friends and meet foes as they fight through all 100 Levels. But things aren't always what they seem to be, and people will be tested to their limits. Some will break. Some will survive. This is their new reality.
1. Cruel World

**Sword Art Online: Reprogrammed **

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights reserved to Reki Kawahara and ASCII Media Works. However, I do own my story as a whole, the original concepts put in and my original characters.

A/N Greetings: This is a big project. I spent a lot of time planning on this. I curse my fanboy side, not being satisfied with the light novels (I only read GGO and further. I can't read The Aincrad and ALO arcs arcs anymore QQ). Fingers crossed I don't abandon this. (Hopefully) If I don't, you're in for a ride. No dirty jokes intended.

Only thing you need to know: _Italic= _thoughts

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Chapter 1: Cruel World

_I wonder if I died and went to heaven. _

_Or hell._

_Whichever one, I can't get out of it. _

_I'm trapped in Sword Art Online. _

I'm walking around the beginning town: Stone Step. (A/N: Tell me what the first town's name is because I don't know) This place is designed between a breed of Renaissance and Modern architecture and style.

Everywhere, I see people wandering about like me. They're talking to friends. Some of them are even just randomly conversing with strangers. Of course, there are those who are sulking. They're exactly what most of us don't want to turn into. If you look hard enough, there are reliable adults who are consoling everybody. Even so, they don't what to do. Deep down, nobody knows what to do.

_I don't know what to do. _

_I could go to the dungeon field, outside of the protection offered by the town. I could level up. Even become the person with the highest level. A few players are EXP grinding like their lives depended on it. _

_But what would be the point?_

I buried my head in my hands, and advanced haphazardly through the crowd gathering in the fountain, the first landmark you see prior to getting inside the VRMMORPG. I bumped into someone, and I lifted my head to see who it was. The person had long white hair, contrasting the black eyes in her elegant face, and the way she carried herself made other people very aware of her. I am now.

But the way she looked at me. It was merciless. Most people would just feel annoyed or even pity for a person like me, but it's as if she held considerable contempt towards me even though I had never met her in my entire life.

She studied for an arduous moment, then said to me, "Go kill yourself." She continued going down the direction she was headed.

I stood there in shock. Her words doesn't make sense.

_You can't kill yourself in this game, or any form of death in that matter. When people found out that they were stuck in here, they tried suicide immediately. It didn't work. No matter what they did, their health wouldn't go down one bit. Maybe by that, she meant kill the current me? My mental state right now? _

She probably didn't mean that, but I took the meaning to heart. I pushed my way to the fountain, scooped water in my palms and splashed it on my face.

_Let's go over things that I know. Maybe things would become clearer that way. _I looked at my reflection in the ripples of the water. _My in game name is Kirito. I have black hair, black eyes, a somewhat feminine face. I am an introvert, I admit that. However, I am supposed to meet my friend Klein. Maybe he got the news in the outside world and didn't come inside the game. The outside world. I don't want to think of my life outside yet, so focus on the game. The game. _

_What kind of game is Sword Art Online? _

_Sword Art Online is a VRMMORPG. VRMMORPG stands for Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It is the child of a compilation of neuro-science and technology, along with tons of money sponsored by big shot companies. The company Argus made Sword Art Online. But the one who can take most of the credit is Kayaba Akihiko. He was the chief in the research of neurology regarding the game, along with the development of it. Sword Art Online was just released a few days ago. Copies were sold out within hours of hitting the shelves. What's strange is that it made its debut throughout the whole world, even third world countries. Now the game has a wide array of players. The players. The players were all stuck here the moment they entered, their chosen avatars switched with copies of their real life bodies. It's been 3 days since, assuming the time in here went along with the flow of time in the outside world. No one has made any announcement or shed any light to the reason as to why we are here. The players are getting anxious each day. We're stuck in First Floor. The beta testers don't know anything. They say it's a completely different world than before. I should know. I'm a beta tester myself. _

I slammed the concrete containing the water in the fountain out of frustration. _Even if I think even more, it all comes down to one thing. Beating the game. Sword Art Online has 100 Floors, and each Floor as a Floor Boss players must defeat to advance to the next floor. I'm going to guess at least that fact hasn't changed. _I took deep breaths, and looked upon the sky. It was probably already noon. _But first things first. Let's assume the worst by thinking that Klein is not in the game. In that case, I need a companion. If possible, I don't want to pick a gamer. They're jerks. I'm a gamer myself. I know I act like a douchebag sometimes (or maybe most of the times). But that doesn't mean I want to be stuck with those kind of people. It's not good for me. I need someone who has his/her ground in reality. _

Suddenly, I was pushed into the fountain. I came out drenched, and incredibly surprised. People around me laughed at my situation. The person who pushed me was a girl with long, orange-brownish chestnut hair. It was as long as the girl's hair who told me to kill myself. She looked about as the same age as me, which is 16. She was sitting in the spot in which I was pondering. She was shaking her head, her face buried in her hands like me earlier.

I was just about to go yell at her when someone got out of the crowd just to point and laugh at me. _That guy's an idiot. _Then something even more unexpected happened.

The girl pulled out the sword in her waist and slammed it in the guy's stomach. She then raised the sword high above, and struck down on his head. She shouted as she did so. The poor player collapsed. The girl continued her attacks, for she repeatedly stomped on him. The guy was screaming, then finally crawled away and ran. The audience quickly gave her a wide berth, and were muttering within themselves. Meanwhile, the girl herself fell down and cried. Numerous players said to each other, just loud enough for her to hear, "She's crazy." They dispersed, but they were still watching her with wary, as if they were expecting something entertaining to happen.

I stepped out of the fountain, and approached her, my shoes squelching with every step. _She probably is just like me. I'm not helping her. I'm just going to make sure she's okay. _

I tapped her shoulder, and she jumped in shock. The players looked at me as if I was just as equally mentally unstable. Considering how everybody seemed to be treating her, I wasn't surprised. She turned around reluctantly. Her hazel eyes said that she yearned for someone who could just tell her everything would be ok.

I gulped. _Time to act like a man for once in your life. _I extended my hand towards her and asked, "Are you okay?" To my delight, she took my hand and got up. I smiled.

Then she stabbed me.

My breath was forced out. She would've actually stabbed me if I was somewhere else but the town. I looked at her, and she was trembling, barely able to hold her sword. I pushed her away, and put my grip on my sword in waist just in case. I was furious. "Why are you doing this?!"

The question seemed to have hit a nerve for a second, then she yelled, "It's stupid! All of this is stupid! This game is stupid! I don't want to be here! I DON'T WAN'T TO BE HERE!"

I was accustomed to people just randomly shouting out that they really want to get out. _That doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try to move on. _"Do you think you're the only one?! Huh? Still, why are you doing this? Why are you attacking others?" I was hoping that she would have the capacity to give me a sane answer.

"M-maybe…if I act as a bad person…they would kick me out of the game. Why can't I kill myself? Why doesn't the game allow that? So now there's only one way…"

"Just wait for a few more days! Maybe this is just a glitch! Surely, they didn't predict the event that the game would be filled to the max in a day!" _This is the thought that kept me going. It has to be true. _

The girl staggered for a moment. _She's considering it. _Then she screamed, like she rejected the thought. She rushed towards me with sword held up high. "I can't wait that long!"

_I was hoping things wouldn't go down this way. _She swung her sword to my left side. I blocked it, intending to return with a kick, but she hit with so much force that my sword flew and I was pushed away. She didn't give me any time to rest, for she ran to my side and brought down the tip of her sword from right above my head. I rolled a couple centimeters to the right, but I felt the sword touch my right ear. I tried to pick up my sword, but she planted her foot on my back and stabbed me in the back of my head, this time succeeding. My vision dimmed a bit upon impact. Then I heard her sword clatter on the ground. I felt tears dropping on my head. I got off my chest, and looked at her out of confusion.

She was muttering, "Please, just let me die. Just…get me out of here."

I realized that the players were gathering again. They looked at the girl with more cruelty this time, as if she was a monster. Some players were giving me words of praise, and even tried to help me up. But I didn't care about all that. I kept my gaze to the girl, who was now sobbing uncontrollably. I just realized that she has no one.

_She's all alone. No one to be with her. _I looked around the crowd to see if anyone has even a tiny urge of talking to her. No one.

"Damn you all", I muttered to myself. I stood up and picked up both of our swords, which were both identical. I sheathed on what I guessed was mine, then held hers in my right hand's in backhand form. They were swords given to players only on their first day as a gift for playing Sword Art Online, along with other equipment, so that you could earn Col to be able to buy other stuff. I walked over to the girl, much to the surprise of the audience, who shouted words of dissatisfaction.

_I have always been an outcast of society. I learned to only give myself to the few who deserve it. She's capable, I can definitely feel it. I need a partner. Who better than someone you just fought? _

I extended my hand towards her once again. "I'm Kirito." I smiled at her. Once again, she was shocked at the notion of someone approaching her. She just looked at me with those large, teary hazel eyes. She didn't respond, so I took her hand and started to walk in the direction of the apartment I'm living. When she didn't get up, I said, "I'll give you your sword back." I tossed it to her, and she caught it with ease, sheathing it back to her waist. She stood up this time, and I let go of her hand. I ignored the stares and comments the players were giving. I slowly walked back to the inner streets of the town. The girl jogged a bit to catch up with me.

_She didn't talk to me or give me her name while we were walking. But I was just glad she was with me. _

Chapter 1: Cruel World

End

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A/N Afterword: Asuna's state gets explained at the next chap. Also, I'm cereal. I am going to make this into a series. Besides, my author side is going to flip if I don't finish this story, unless I get really bored of it, which I probably won't, because I planned a plot that was interesting for me, and I'm going to like writing it. To clear up future misunderstandings, let me just say this in advance: **This is very different from the original Sword Art Online. It will have some characters from the original one, but it will also be filled with my own Original Characters. The plot is unique, and even some of the settings will be too.**

* * *

Here's a little something for you XD.

_This fan's all sad. This fan wants more Sword Art Online. _I looked around the crowd to see if anyone had plans of even doing something to the Aincrad Arc. No one. Fucking no one. (Well except Reki Kawahara with his Sword Art Online: Progressive. I approve).

"Damn you all", I muttered to myself. I stood up and walked over to the fan, much to the surprise of the audience, who shouted words like, "Oh my god, he's fucking crazy!"

_I have always enjoyed every damn anime and manga thrown at me, no matter how horrible it was. But I just can't let go of fucking Sword Art Online. This fan's just like me. This fan needs more. I'll give this fan more. We'll go on a journey together, and at the end of that journey, lies even more journeys, cuz there ain't no brakes on the story train. Choo Choo motherfuckers. _

I extended Sword Art Online: Reprogrammed towards the fan. "I'm Fate's Author."


	2. Salvation

**Sword Art Online: Reprogrammed**

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights reserved to Kawahara Reki and ASCII Media Works. However, I do own my story as a whole, the original concepts put in and my original characters.

A/N Greetings: I am sorry for the late update. It's that the ideas for each chapter flow to me. I can't force them out. It's barely an excuse, but it is the truth, believe me.

I also intended for this to be a longer chapter, but the content that was supposed to be in here is going to be put in the next chap.

Lastly, even though I mentioned it in the previous summary of the story that I then replaced soon afterwards, I am pretty sure most of you don't know what I am actually doing in the story. **I am rewriting the Aincrad arc. **I wanted moar, but it's hard to accept that there would be no more of the Aincrad Arc, so I was like I'll do it myself. There is _Sword Art Online: Progressive_ in which Kawahara Reki (I have been saying his name wrong) also basically rewrote the Aincrad arc (I think), but it's still very new, so it's hard to know where it is going. Also, this is my first big story and what better to do it than express my love for _Sword Art Online_?

Reminder: _italic_= thoughts. I don't do '_italic_' as thoughts, so you may want to keep an open eye.

* * *

My Beta Tester (deserves a spot all on her own): Room . Shambles

Since the system erases her name whenever I write it, there is no spacing on each side of the dot.

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Chapter 2: Salvation

_I always thought I was alone._

I glanced back at the girl who was walking timidly right behind me. She seemed self-conscious, and she fidgeted around with her hair while looking at the buildings around her. Every now and then I would make sure she was still with me, and that she hasn't ran away yet. I'm still surprised she's accompanying me.

_I want to make conversation. I could start by asking her name. But I'm pretty sure I would stutter and act like an idiot. It was a miracle I was able to even say few words in front of her. _

She caught me looking at her, and we made eye contact for a few seconds. Then I broke my gaze and turned my head away quickly.

_Damn, I was looking at her for too long. She probably thinks I'm weird now. Everybody does. _

I recalled a line Klein once said to me. "I like you because you're weird. But because you're weird, nobody else likes you." _That bastard. _

_I thought things would change if I entered Sword Art Online._ _Nobody would know who I was, so they would treat me normally. I would have newfound confidence, and I would grow out of my shell. I wouldn't be an introvert anymore. _

I clenched my fists so hard that my arms were trembling. _Why am I trapped here? What exactly is happening?_

I was so engrossed with self-pity, I bumped into lamp post in the middle of the path, stumbled backwards and stepped on the girl's foot. She cried in pain, and fell down on her bottom. I almost crashed on top of her, but I held on to the pole.

_I screwed up. _"I-I'm very sorry. Are you alright?" I extended my hand towards her again, but this time, she didn't accept it. She stood up on her own, and dismissed my concern. "I'm alright. It's okay."

I felt dejected at the fact that she didn't take my hand, then I decided to ask a question that has been tugging at me.

"Why are you still following me?"

She looked genuinely confused. "Didn't you ask me to follow you?"

_I feel so stupid. _

I quickly replied, "It's uh-" I tried to find the words to match my thoughts. "What I mean is that we just fought each other with dangerous intents, and it was a little weird that we would instantly become friends just like this." _Wait, are we friends? _

She still seemed confused. "But you asked me to follow you."

I sighed. "Never mind. It's nothing."

She laughed.

It was such a foreign sound coming from her that I was fazed for a second. I looked at her face, and it was bursting with delight and a cheery aura. It was an amazing stark contrast to her previous mood.

She wiped a tear at the corner of her eye. "I get what you're saying. I was just messing with you."

_I feel even more stupid. _

"Thank you for saving me." She beamed a smile.

This time it was my turn to not understand. "Saving you from what?"

"Never mind. It's nothing." She started walking and passed me. I just stood there in shock. "Aren't you going to take me to your house?" she asked while looking back.

That snapped me out of it. "Oh…um yes. Yes I will."

"Well then hurry up. It's getting dark."

I jogged a bit to catch up with her. My face was burning.

(A/N: You're not so cool, are you now, Kirito?)

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A medieval house stuck between a café and a weapon shop arrived in our sight. Buildings of that type are common, and its presence is nothing impressive.

I pointed to that same building and said, "That's our house. It looks a little small, but it's enough for four people to occupy."

She stopped in her tracks, and studied the structure of the abode. "Why did you buy a house?"

As my mind wandered to memories, my gaze became distant as I unconsciously started narrating them.

"I had a friend-"

"Oh, I didn't know someone was at your house." she interrupted me.

_What? _

I quickly pulled her to the side, and she blurted out, "What's wrong?" I put my finger to her lips and said, "Shh." It took her a moment to understand the situation, then I continued.

"I live alone. No one is supposed to be with me." I whispered.

_Unless…Unless…Impossible._

"But it's not entirely improbable", I muttered to myself.

I ran to the door of my own home, leaving the girl crouching near the bushes. I stood idly in front of it, counting down from 3 to prepare opening it.

_3..2..1.._

I barely touched the door knob when the wooden door broke off its hinges, collided with my face and sent me flying with it. (A/N: Just imagine that scenario.)

I landed on my back, forcing the air out of my chest, and hitting my head on the pavement. The wooden door exploded into tiny, shiny polygons that eventually dissipated. (A/N: I don't think they are polygons. I used to know, but for the life of me, I can't remember. If you know what shape they are, please tell me)

"Kirito?" A familiar voice called out to me. My vision was still recovering when I heard a groan and someone falling down. It was followed by a question.

"Who are you?" My partner was interrogating the attacker.

The 'attacker's' response was, "Who are you?"

_No doubt about it. It's him. _

I sat up slowly. I saw the 'attacker' face down on the ground, with the girl's sword tip resting on his back.

"You can let him go now. It's ok." I said to the girl. _She didn't tell me her own name yet. _

"Are you sure?" she asked skeptically.

The 'attacker' raised his head.

"Kirito, who is this girl?"

I sighed. "Before that, why did you bust down the door, Klein?

He grinned. "Scare tactic." As if that explained it.

My newfound partner was now very confused on to what she should do now. She decided with an apology. She took off her sword off him.

"I am very sorry." She bowed deeply.

Klein looked uncomfortable, and laughed awkwardly. "It's fine, really." While saying that, he kept inching closer to me.

He leaned to my ear while keeping an eye on my partner. "You finally grew a pair and became a man." he whispered to me.

I was embarrassed at his statement. "It's not like that. It's just…I just…" I was too flustered to continue.

He chuckled in amusement. "Aww, you cute tsunde-bweh!" I punched the bastard to stop him from saying anymore. (A/N: For those of you who don't know, Tsundere can be dissected from Tsun and Dere. Tsun is the cage that holds the true feelings, while the Dere is the hidden pure feelings and personality. Usually those feelings are related to love. Most Tsunderes are women who doesn't want the guy that they like to know that she likes him. This often leads to some...unique situations.)

"I welcome you all to our home."

We sat around a small coffee table on red love seats (there are four) that surround it. I stood behind Klein, while my partner and another girl who is petite with flowing hair, not at all braided in some parts like the girl's beside her sat in an opposite love seat, facing both of us.

"I'm Klein, the master of this humble abode." He pointed to himself proudly. He then gestured to me. "And this…this is my cute tsundere maid."

I grabbed his hair and dragged him upwards. I muttered to him threateningly.

"What did you say?"

He sighed in exasperation. I let him go in satisfaction.

"I meant my uke butler." (A/N: If you get what they're saying, then please know that they are just screwing around. It's not actually turning into ...that)

I kicked the love seat and made both Klein and it fall over. Klein crashed his head on the coffee table.

"Why didn't you take out the tsundere part?!"

He shouted back to me, "Because that's what you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are!

My partner cleared her throat.

"I am sure you two would like to continue that in bed later on at night, but now is not the time for this."

_Now she's thinking of us like this. _"No! It's not like that! I swear!"

The black haired girl spoke for once, though in a tiny voice. "I think Kirito should be seme and Klein be uke."

This outraged Klein. "No. No. No. You're wrong. I should be seme. He's clearly tsundere! Plus he looks like a girl!"

That comment put salt in an open wound in Kirito's mentality. He fell down ungracefully in the background.

The black haired girl was determined to prove her point. She shook her head left to right several times in disapproval.

"Kirito is more manly than you!"

Klein was caught off guard as he tried to process what has just been said.

He staggered backwards for a few steps, but was stopped by the fallen love seat.

Kirito appeared from behind the seat, apparently having recovered, and tried to tackle his red headed master.

However, Klein noticed the intent in the air just a second before his black haired maid attacked, so he scrambled out of the way quickly, and climbed behind the seat of Asuna and Luna.

The outraged Kirito went even more berserk and flipped the coffee table to the direction of his master.

Luna jumped out of the way, barely missing the airborne furniture, then landed on her face.

And yes…The table hit Asuna.

She was drinking tea.

After a moment that felt like forever, the table crashed to the wooden floor.

Klein peeked out. "Why were you drinking tea?"

She answered with a calm, but deadly voice. "Because our hosts were very rude. They didn't serve us any refreshments, so I made some for myself." She seemed to struggle to contain her anger. There was the sound of porcelain snapping under pressure in her fingers.

Klein hid behind the love seat once again.

The culprit to the accident finally broke out of his shock. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm sorry!"

She looked annoyed for a second. "Asuna. My name is Asuna."

Kirito felt sheepish, so he just stood there.

Asuna used the napkin previously tucked in her lap to wipe her face. "So let's start all over again, shall we? This time, let's talk about something more serious."

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A/N Afterword: Yes, it's just like what our main heroine (hah, heroine) said. Next chap is going to be cereal. I suggest that you read: _Dice: The cube that changes everything _Korean webtoon. If you don't want to read it, then you can just appreciate the art style and the work put into it. Feel free to recommend me any manga/webtoon whose quality is like that, or close, or even better.

I'll try to do these parodies for every chapter.

* * *

"Here's your chapter XD!" I flipped Chapter 2: Salvation towards the reader.

It hit him square in the face.

"Why did you take two frikkin weeks to write it?!" Demanded the reader.

_*gasp*_

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm sorry!"

Another reader peeked out.

"I don't believe you when you say that you wait for the ideas to flow to you. I think you were just lazy."

_Well yeah that too. _

"The chapter is short too." continued the same person.

_Goddamn. I'm screwed if I don't make up for this, fast. _

"U-um...I already started writing Chapter 3! It will be coming shortly!"


End file.
